underwhelmed by the performance of my winter tyres

[C60three]

I was really underwhelmed by the performance of my winter tyres (winter conti 830) in the ice. The first really cold day since they were fitted.
Struggled to pull away and the backend felt very ‘twitchy’ even at moderate speed. I met a bus coming towards me (I was probably doing 40-5mph) on a narrow country road and I decided to bail onto to the grass verge rather than try and shed too much speed and risk spinning! Overall v disappointed. How does everyone else find their winter tyres?

 

[whitenemesis]

No tyre, unless studded, will grip on ice.

Doing 40mph when you knew it was icy was very brave of you ...

 

[renault12ts]

^ Agreed...physics wins every time. Take it easy on ice...they are not miracle workers.

 

[John Jones Jr]

40 or 50 on ice? It's not the tyres...

 

[renault12ts]

40 or 50 on ice? It's not the tyres...

...they walk amongst us.

 

[Rory]

Yes - my wife's little Honda Jazz has Michelin Alpin full winter tyres. Guess what? It doesn't drive on packed snow as if it's not there!

 

[C60three]

No tyre, unless studded, will grip on ice.

Doing 40mph when you knew it was icy was very brave of you ...

Fair enough, but I've seen a you tube video of a chap fairly pushing on in icy/snowy conditions in a C63 with winter rubber on with no apparent issues!

 

[Sp!ke]

There are many kinds of winter tyres offering different levels of winter performance.

There is also a huge difference between snow and ice when it comes to grip.

Pushing your car on ice on a public road is rather unwise I have to say...especially as your prior experience seems limited to watching others doing it on YouTube.

 

[C60three]

Here it is C63 AMG (with PPP) Winter Tyre Snow and Ice. - YouTube

 

[renault12ts]

There are many kinds of winter tyres offering different levels of winter performance.

There is also a huge difference between snow and ice when it comes to grip.

Pushing your car on ice on a public road is rather unwise I have to say...especially as your prior experience seems limited to watching others doing it on YouTube.

And the cars coming the other direction may not be on winters and could slide just as you don't want them to.

 

[renault12ts]

Without winters:

C63 AMG - Clearly not built for the snow.. - YouTube

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Winter tyres will not grip on sheet ice.

In straight cold weather you would need to be on the limit and very skilled to notice any advantage associated with winter tyres.

In my experience snow and slush are the conditions which create the winter tyre evangelists. Even a Buffoon like me can tell the difference!

 

[markjay]

Here it is C63 AMG (with PPP) Winter Tyre Snow and Ice. - YouTube

The text says 'snow' and 'ice', but I would hazard a guess that there was no ice, just snow. As others said, there is a big difference between the two.

(Even so there's a certain 'edginess' to the clip, the car feels as if it is working hard to keep on track, not your everyday drive to the shops)

 

[John Jones Jr]

The text says 'snow' and 'ice', but I would hazard a guess that there was no ice, just snow. As others said, there is a big difference between the two.

(Even so there's a certain 'edginess' to the clip, the car feels as if it is working hard to keep on track, not your everyday drive to the shops)

And by the looks of it, there's zero allowance made for oncoming traffic of any description. Wish, he had applied the brakes out of interest in the faster sections. I think all told it's a pointless video.

 

[markjay]

And by the looks of it, there's zero allowance made for oncoming traffic of any description. Wish, he had applied the brakes out of interest in the faster sections. I think all told it's a pointless video.

Oddly, I did enjoy watching it, it felt slightly 'tense' to watch and the driver controlled the car well.

But as you say it's pointless in that it does not actually prove anything or demonstrate the car/tyres ability.

 

[Spinal]

Here's a question - are studded tyres legal in the UK?

 

[dubsR33]

less traction more action

 

[camerafodder]

I've heard if you set cruise control that you can climb into the backseat and make a cup of tea.

 

[John Jones Jr]

I wonder was it good car control or was the driver lucky. A vid of him sawing at wheel along with a view of the dash display might have been a bit more enlightening.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Here's a question - are studded tyres legal in the UK?

I suspect so but only on actually iced over roads?